In this article
What’s happening at Manchester AirportRumours, crewmours and common sense suggest that Manchester will get a oneworld lounge.
Manchester Terminal 2 is missing a true premium airport lounge. Business and first-class passengers are yearning for something better. Who will fill that gap?
What’s happening at Manchester Airport
There’s a lounge-shaped hole at Manchester Airport now that Virgin have shelved their plans to open a Clubhouse. That space would fit a oneworld/IAG group perfectly, but will that dream become a reality?
T1 is set to close in 2025 with all flights from there moving to Terminal 2. MAG has said that 70% – 80% of flights from MAN will be based on T2 in a years time, which means that for a period 20% – 30% of flights will remain at T3. The very long-term future of the airport is Terminal 2, which they describe as a “super” terminal. While all this is happening there’s a fourth terminal opening: the Aether Private Terminal at Manchester Airport.
The oneworld airlines are spread out across all three terminals. If we assume that all T1 airlines will move to T2, that would leave just BA and Finnair at T3.
| oneworld airline | Current terminal |
|---|---|
| Aer Lingus – Regional | 1 |
| Aer Lingus – Transatlantic | 2 |
| BA | 3 |
| Cathay Pacific | 2 |
| Finnair | 3 |
| Royal Air Maroc | 2 |
| Royal Jordanian | 1 |
| Qatar | 2 |
It’s highly likely that BA will move from T3 to T2, with rumours being 2025. The T1 experience is poor without a dedicated BA lounge, and it would make sense to have all oneworld airlines in the new terminal. BA deserve T2, and T2 deserves BA. The BA move would likely mean Finnair would migrate at the same time.
The closure of T1 and the airline moves from T3 means a lounge crunch. In T1 the Etihad and Emirates lounges will be disappearing when the terminal closes, along with the Aspire lounge and an Escape lounge. Moving all the oneworld airlines to T2 will create a significant demand for lounges. There is no way that the current three lounges in T2 will be able to cope.
Do Manchester flights really warrant lounges?
Manchester Airport isn’t as premium-heavy as Heathrow, but it has a good amount of business and even a limited amount of first-class traffic. Emirates flies three times a day with the A380, and some flights include first class. Etihad flies daily in a business class/economy configuration.
Qatar has three flights a day (none of which have First Class), plus Aer Lingus and Virgin fly to the US. VA to Orlando, Atlanta, Las Vegas and New York, Aer Lingus to Orlando and New York.
Then there’s Singapore Airlines, which stops in Manchester between Houston and Singapore, where you can head to either destination from MAN. Saudia flies to Jeddah.
When will Manchester Terminal 1 close?
MAG has repeatedly quoted 2025 as being the date when “phase 2” of the transformation project will be complete. In January 2024 at the Manchester Airport Consultative Committee, April 2025 was given as the date. Whether this includes the closure of T1 is up for interpretation, and they will no doubt want to avoid any teething problems. MAN has its fair share of significant issues. At the time of writing the airport has had a power cut, cancelled numerous flights and warned traveller to not travel to the airport unless they check with their airline.
What problem would a One World lounge at Manchester solve?
The current Escape Lounge and 1903 Lounge at T2 can get very busy during peak periods. They are also not premium lounges. They’re modern, but they have service issues and they’re currently catering to business class passengers plus anyone who wants to stump up cash for entry. The Aspire lounge also exists in Terminal 1 but is slightly hidden away.
One of the bugbears of flying BA from T3 is that you were lumped in with the stag and hen parties who were hammering the free drinks. That has been mostly solved by moving BA passengers to the Escape+ lounge in early 2024.
Go back five years and Manchester Airport was better for premium passengers than it is now. Something has to be done prior to T1 closing, AND then again when T3 airlines move to T2. The 1903 lounge and the Escape Lounge in T2 are not up to standard when you're paying £4k for a business class ticket.
Having a single lounge for OW would sweep up a lot of premium and status passengers into a single room. For the OW airlines, plus you would assume Aer Lingus, that would create a haven for a big group of people that can then free up the cash lounges. The multiple BA flights daily, Aer Lingus to NYC, the three Doha flights, plus Finnair, Iberia, Royal Air Maroc. That’s a steady flow of passengers looking for a lounge experience, and they would fill up the current lounges twice over.
Having a oneworld lounge doesn’t solve the problem for Emirates and Etihad. Would they drop their premium passengers into the 1903 lounge? A few years ago I would have said no for Emirates, but I think it’s entirely possible. Their A380s are premium heavy but the departure times are well spaced out. Etihad has just a single daily flight to find a lounge for. If either airline was going to create their own premium space at MAN it would be Emirates.
MAG’s approach with an Escape+ lounge in T1 could be deployed in T2 if there’s space, to sweep up Virgin, Etihad and Emirates. This is a lounge that can’t be booked using cash, but that you can use lounge cards for.
How do One World lounges differ from airline-specific lounges?
There are currently two types of oneworld Lounge. In 2014 a lounge was created at LAX which could be described as oneworld. It was a joint lounge from BA, Cathay Pacific and Qantas. It came online in phases, with capacity set at 400 until the second phase launched in 2015.
It’s attractive (certainly by US lounge standards), modern and has multiple zones for eating, relaxing or working. However, it is not the Al Mourjan lounge at Doha (Qatar’s stunning business class lounge). Compared to the current lounges at MAN, it is still a step up and more in line with what a premium passenger would expect.
In 2019 oneworld announced an “even better customer experience” with Oneworld-branded airport lounges to be rolled out at key airports. They followed this up later in 2019 with the first lounge announced: Moscow Domodedovo. For obvious reasons, this did not happen. (This premium lounge message from oneworld was repeated again in 2024 as a focus of the CEO)
Here’s imagery of the most recent oneworld lounge opening in Amsterdam
With the pandemic impacting airline traffic, there was a long pause. Then in 2024, the first true oneworld lounges launched. Seoul came online in January 2024 then Amsterdam followed in February 2024 The design principles for these lounges are different to the hybrid oneworld lounge in LAX. The entranceways to AMS and ICN look like a completely different product versus the legacy LAX lounge.
Aside from there being no airline logo on the door, the oneworld lounges will operate the same as other lounges. Expect showers, wifi, laundry facilities, a business centre, bar.
Does MAN have space for a oneworld Lounge?
Given that Virgin have abandoned their plans for a clubhouse, then yes. Looking at the upper level at MAN – which doesn’t include any space being made available in phase 2 – there are two potential spaces. Next to the Escape Lounge and the 1903 Lounge are two unused areas. One is around three times bigger than the other and would suit a oneworld lounge. The other space could well serve as a smaller lounge, for Emirates or an Escape+ Lounge.
It’s unclear if any additional space will be created when phase 2 of the Manchester Airport upgrade is completed in 2025. It’s entirely possible, although it may be away from the main departure area.
Which One World airlines fly from MAN?
| Airline | Destination(s) | Frequency | Cabins Available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus | NYC, Orlando, Dublin, Barbados, Belfast | NYC: Daily Orlando: Upto x2 Daily Dublin: Upto x6 Daily Belfast: x3 Daily Barbados: x3 Weekly | Dublin & Belfast: Euro Business, Economy NYC, Orlando, Barbados: Business Class, Economy |
| BA | London (Heathrow) | Upto x6 Daily | Euro Business, Economy |
| Cathay Pacific | Hong Kong | x5 Weekly (Mon, Wed, Thur, Fri, Sat) | Business Class, Premium Economy, Economy |
| Finnair | Helsinki | x1 to x2 Daily | Euro Business, Economy |
| Qatar | Doha | x3 Daily | Business Class, Economy |
| Royal Jordanian | Amman | x3 Weekly (Mon, Wed, Sat) | Business Class, Economy |
| Saudia | Jeddah | x1 Daily | Business Class, Economy |
What do we really know?
Predicting whether a oneworld lounge will open at Manchester Aiport is based on common sense, conjecture and rumours. Aside from Virgin cancelling their clubhouse, there is no concrete news on new lounges at T2. Here are some of the relevant snippets of information:
Works for Phase 2 were ongoing with a completion date of April 2025.
Lucy Sharmash from MAG at the Manchester Airport Consultative Committee in January 2024
Once complete, Terminal 2 will become the airport’s main terminal and cater for over 70% of its passengers. It will also allow for the closure of Terminal 1.
Manchester Airport press release in January 2024
There was some crewmours noted a few months ago on the thread that BA will move to T2 by. 2025.
User KARFA on FlyerTalk, 10th June 2024
The primary focus of new alliance CEO Nat Pieper is enhancement of all aspects of the guest travel experience, including an ambitious premium lounge strategy
oneworld press release, 3rd June 2024
